The ship captained by Ben Neely went 500 miles off course after it got caught in waters roiled by Hurricane Julio.

The three men were traveling from California to Hawaii before heading to Thailand, according to a family friend who spoke with KCRA 3.

Matson officials say the crew tried to use a lifeboat, but because of the strong winds from Julio the lifeboat was blown away. The rescue attempt took 4.5 hours.

"We were in probably in 45-to-60 mph winds. And they tried to get us aboard, but it was too dangerous. Visibility was really down. So, we called it off at about midnight and they sat there all night long using their fuel, and their time, and their equipment to wait until they could take us aboard in the morning," Ben Neely said.